RULE 12.363. EVALUATION OF MINOR CHILD

(a) Appointment of Expert.

(1) The court, on motion of any party or the court’s own
motion, may appoint an expert for an examination, evaluation,
testing, or interview of any minor child. The parties may agree on
the particular expert to be appointed, subject to approval by the
court. If the parties have agreed, they shall submit an order
including the name, address, telephone number, area of expertise,
and professional qualifications of the expert. If there has been a
determination of the need for the appointment of an expert and the
parties cannot agree on the selection of the expert, the court shall
appoint an expert.

(2) After the examination, evaluation, or investigation,
any party may file a motion for an additional expert examination,
evaluation, interview, testing, or investigation by another expert.
The court upon hearing may permit the additional examination,
evaluation, testing, or interview only on a showing of good cause
and only upon a finding that further examinations, testing,
interviews, or evaluations would be in the best interests of the
minor child.

(3) Any order entered under this rule shall specify the
issues to be addressed by the expert.

(4) Any order entered under this rule may require that
all interviews of the child be recorded and the tapes be maintained
as part of the expert’s file.

(5) The order appointing the expert shall include an
initial allocation of responsibility for payment.

(6) A copy of the order of appointment shall be provided
immediately to the expert by the court unless otherwise directed by
the court. The order shall direct the parties to contact the expert
appointed by the court to establish an appointment schedule to
facilitate timely completion of the evaluation.

(b) Providing of Reports.

(1) Unless otherwise ordered, the expert shall prepare
and provide a written report to each party and the guardian ad
litem, if appointed, a reasonable time before any evidentiary hearing
on the matter at issue. The expert also shall send written notice to
the court that the report has been completed and that a copy of the
written report has been provided to each party and the guardian ad
litem, if appointed. In any event, the written report shall be
prepared and provided no later than 30 days before trial or 75 days
from the order of appointment, unless the time is extended by order
of the court. The expert shall not send a copy of the report to the
court unless the parties and their attorneys have agreed in writing
that the report will be considered by the court and filed in the court
files as provided in subdivision (e).

(2) On motion of any party, the court may order the
expert to produce the expert’s complete file to another expert at the
initial cost of the requesting party, for review by such expert, who
may testify.

(c) Testimony of Other Experts. Any other expert who has
treated, tested, interviewed, examined, or evaluated a child may
testify only if the court determines that good cause exists to permit
the testimony. The fact that no notice of such treatment, testing,
interview, examination, or evaluation of a child was given to both
parents shall be considered by the court as a basis for preventing
such testimony.

(d) Communications with Court by Expert. No expert may
communicate with the court without prior notice to the parties, who
shall be afforded the opportunity to be present and heard during
any such communication between the expert and the court. A
request for communication with the court may be informally
conveyed by letter or telephone. Further communication with the
court, which may be conducted informally, shall be done only with
notice to the parties.

(e) Use of Evidence. An expert appointed by the court shall
be subject to the same examination as a privately retained expert
and the court shall not entertain any presumption in favor of the
appointed expert’s findings. Any finding or report by an expert
appointed by the court may be entered into evidence on the court’s
own motion or the motion of any party in a manner consistent with
the rules of evidence, subject to cross-examination by the parties.
Any report filed with the court shall be in compliance with Florida
Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425. The
report shall not be filed in the court file unless or until it is properly
admitted into evidence and considered by the court. The court
shall consider whether the report should be sealed as provided by
Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420.

(f) Limitation of Scope. This rule shall not apply to
parenting coordinators or social investigators.

Committee Note
1997 Adoption. This rule should be interpreted to discourage
subjecting children to multiple interviews, testing, and evaluations,
without good cause shown. The court should consider the best
interests of the child in permitting evaluations, testing, or
interviews of the child. The parties should cooperate in choosing a
mental health professional or individual to perform this function to
lessen the need for multiple evaluations.

This rule is not intended to prevent additional mental health
professionals who have not treated, interviewed, or evaluated the
child from testifying concerning review of the data produced
pursuant to this rule.

This rule is not intended to prevent a mental health
professional who has engaged in long-term treatment of the child
from testifying about the minor child.